Brody pretended to sip the wine while he considered her. She had to be the Count’s wife. Henry was a pious man and whores were not tolerated in his hall, no matter how well they presented themselves. Regnitz was middle-aged, but his wife looked to be much younger. She had creamy flesh that the veil and modest panel over her breasts did little to disguise. Her breasts were well-shaped and outlined by wine-red velvet and jeweled trim, with the white gauze tucked into the square neck.

She was a fine-looking woman. One of the most attractive women Brody had ever come across.

Brody tore his gaze away from the woman, as heat seemed to flush through his chest and into his throat. He looked at Veris, who was sitting on his right. The position of honor. “I…it is nothing. A momentary thought.” He struggled to make his words sound indifferent. Veris must be the very last man in this hall to know what he had been thinking…and feeling.

—

Also on the drawing board at the moment, Beloved Bloody Time 4. It’s currently unnamed, which is unusual, because the name often comes to me as I’m plotting the book. But not this time.

I’ve share an excerpt from this one before, but here’s another. (Who says I like teasing???)

Brenden buried himself in work for the rest of the day, and managed to forget about the evening ahead…or at least, not think about it for longer than ten seconds at a time.Just before sunset, Nayara tapped him on the arm. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

Brenden closed down the files on the tabletop with impatient prods and swipes. “Why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut?” he demanded.

“Because it’s Mariana,” Nayara replied with the same serene tone she had been using all day whenever Mariana and her ball came up.

Rob was working at the other end of the table, on something else. Something normal and not related in any way with the whole stupid affair. He looked up at Brenden’s question. “If she had said no, if she’d chosen to duck out and hide until this was all over, what would ye have thought of that? My guess is ye wouldn’t have liked that nearly as much as her standing up for what she believes in.”

Brenden didn’t answer. He couldn’t find a civil answer, was the problem. He stalked back to his quarters and changed into an evening suit – he had several, for he always seemed to be invited to the big glittery affairs.

Where the rich, permanently unavailable women were.

He realized he was growling as he dressed, and his incisors had descended. He made them retract, shaking off his temper. He wouldn’t be an effective guard if he was steaming at the ears, and after reviewing the same files that Keiren had already been over, Brenden knew that there was a real chance Mariana would need a guard tonight. He’d never let anyone through his guard before and wouldn’t allow it to happen now. Just because he was guarding someone and not fighting on the field of battle shouldn’t make a difference. As a Spartan, it would be it would be dishonorable to fail.